Of course I am amazed at how large the fires are there, the smoke plume looks more like volcanoes erupting, traveling nearly 1000 miles out into the Pacific Ocean.
Now they say it may cover the whole southwest! I believe that such natural disasters unfortunately are part of the lifecycle of such ecosystems. Similar to the Pine Barrens, the southern California scrubs, Chaparrel and Eucalyptus, depend on fire for their lifecycle. And the in the forests, the Lodgepole pines there bear a resemblance to pitch pine, because they have seritonus (closed) cones that only open in the heat of fires. The resemblance to burned areas in the pine barrens is remarkable.
It is a tragedy so many homes (last I heard over 1600) have lost their homes. But those homes never should have been built in the first place. They built right in the middle of a tinderbox. Even after this disaster, the attitude of "we will rebuild" still prevails. They still don't get it.
Southern California is way behind New Jersey and Long Island in terms of preservation. They don't have large tracts of land in these fire dependant scrub and pine forests preserved. Instead development, fueled by greed and the "desire to conquer nature" continues in the middle of these areas.
This disaster does not suprise me. And it will happen again. And again. Until people realize that these areas are not places for subdivisions of tightly packed McMansions.
Now they say it may cover the whole southwest! I believe that such natural disasters unfortunately are part of the lifecycle of such ecosystems. Similar to the Pine Barrens, the southern California scrubs, Chaparrel and Eucalyptus, depend on fire for their lifecycle. And the in the forests, the Lodgepole pines there bear a resemblance to pitch pine, because they have seritonus (closed) cones that only open in the heat of fires. The resemblance to burned areas in the pine barrens is remarkable.
It is a tragedy so many homes (last I heard over 1600) have lost their homes. But those homes never should have been built in the first place. They built right in the middle of a tinderbox. Even after this disaster, the attitude of "we will rebuild" still prevails. They still don't get it.
Southern California is way behind New Jersey and Long Island in terms of preservation. They don't have large tracts of land in these fire dependant scrub and pine forests preserved. Instead development, fueled by greed and the "desire to conquer nature" continues in the middle of these areas.
This disaster does not suprise me. And it will happen again. And again. Until people realize that these areas are not places for subdivisions of tightly packed McMansions.
